Step stool



July 3, 1962 E. F. HAMILTON 3,042,139

STEP STOOL Filed May 18, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENToR. @WL E HHM/UM, Y

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July 3, 1962 E, F, HAMILTON 3,042,139

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United States Patent O 3,042,139 STEP STOOL Earl F. Hamilton, Columbus,Ind., assigner to Hamilton Cosco, Inc., Columbus, Ind., a corporation ofIndiana Filed May 18, 1966, Ser. No. 29,828 6 Claims. (Cl. 182-33.5)

This invention relates yto a step stool, and more particularly to astool having a plurality of steps mounted thereon and movable between aretracted position beneath the stool seat and an extended position inwhich they provide, in eiect, a ladder leading to said stool seat.

The 4present invention relates to the type of step stool just described,and has for its object the provision of a step stool of attractiveappearance which lends itself to manufacture from metal-tubing andsheet-metal. A further objcct o-f the invention is to provide a stepstool which will prove sturdy and durable in use, but which is adaptedfor shipment in knocked-down condition.

In carrying out my invention in its preferred form, I provide pairs offront and rear legs having their upper ends rigidly interconnected, andwhich are interconnected toward their lower ends by a brace. A seat isrigidly mounted on the upper ends of said legs, and the stool may befurther provided with a back rest mounted above the plane of the seat onsupports connected to the upper ends of the rear legs.

The ladder comprises a pair of frame Amembers rigidly connected at theirupper and lower ends to a pair of steps. A pair of legs are alsoconnected to said steps and extend downwardly from the lower of saidpair of steps for engagement with the floor. The ladder is swingablymounted on the stool by a pair of general-ly U-shaped links swingablyinterconnecting the ladder frame to the stool leg brace along thelateral and forward stretches of said brace.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is -a side elevation of a step stool embodying my invention, yandshowing in dotted lines the stool ladder in extended position;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the stool shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectionl taken o-n the line 3 3- of FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is yan enlarged vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. l;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line5-5 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 66v of FIG. 5.

As illustrated in the drawings, my step stool is supported on aplurality of floor-engaging legs conveniently formed from lengths ofmetal-tubing. Forward support for the stool is provided by a pair offront legs 10i having their upper ends bent rearwardly, and rearwardsupport for the stool is provided by a pair of rear legs 12 having theirupper ends bent forwardly and telescoped into the upper ends of 4thefront legs 10, as at 11, to rigidly connect the front and rear legsadjacent the lateral edges of the stool. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, thelegs 10 and 12 are bent inwardly, as at 13, adjacent their upper ends,and `are rigidly interconnected toward their lower ends by ahorizontally disposed brace 15 conveniently formed of metal-tubing andconnected to the inner faces of the several legs as by bolts 17.

A stool seat 16 in the form of a sheet-metal stamping having adownwardly extending peripheral flange is rigidly connected =to theupper horizontally disposed ends of the front and rear legs, as by bolts19. Conveniently, the seat 16 may be provided with a sheet-metal shell20 having a padded covering and disposed over the upper face 3,042,139Patented July 3 1962 of said seat. The stool illustrated is alsoprovided with a back rest 23 mounted above the seat 16 ou a pair of backsupports 24 rigidly connected to the rear face of the back rest 23 andto the upper ends of the rear legs 12 in hidden position under the seat16.

The ladder illustrated in the drawings comprises a pair of steps mountedon a supporting frame pivotally connected to the brace 15 for swingingmovement between its retracted position shown in full lines in FIG. l inwhich the steps underlie the stool seat 16 'and its extended operativeposition sho-wn in dotted lines in FIG. 1 in which the steps aredisposed forwardly of said seat. As shown, the upper and lower steps 25and 26, respectively, are conveniently formed from sheet-metal stampingshaving downwardly projecting peripheral flanges 25 and 26'. As shown inFIG. 2, the upper step 25 is disposed in the general vertical extent ofthe pinched in portion 13 of the stool legs 10 land 12 and has a lateralextent less than the lateral spacing between the pinched in portions `13of the front legs 10 but greater than the lateral spacing between thepinched in portions 13 of the rear legs 12'. Desirably, the upper facesof the steps 25 and 26 are covered with treads 28. The steps are mountedon a pair of ground-engageable legs 30 formed from lengths ofmetal-tubing and connected to the lower step 26, as by bolts 32. Asshown in FIG. 3, the upper end of each leg 30 is iattened and bent intoan offset finger 33 having a recess 3K4 formed therein. The legs 30 areadapted to be connected to the upper step 25 by their lingers 33, and tothis end, said step has a pair of downwardly struck ears 36 and a pairof dimples 38 disposed ladjacent said ears. Thus, to mount the legs 30on the upper step 25, the ends of the leg fingers 33 are insertedbetween the lower face of said step and the ears 36, and the legs 30 arethen swung upwardly into a position such that their fingers bear againstthe upper face of the step ears 36 and the finger recesses 34 arereceived over the dimples 38 for thus locking said legs in iixedposition on said step. After such interengagement between the iingers 33'and ears 36 is effected, the legs 30 are secured in fixed position bythe bolts 312'.

The steps 25 and 26 are also interconnected bya pair of .generallyL-shaped members also formed from lengths of metaltubing, and hav-inggenerally vertically and horizontally disposed stretches 40 and 41. Theupper'ends of the vertical stretches 40 are also flattened and connectedto the upper step 25 in the manner previously described in connectionwith the upper ends of the legs 30. The horizontal stretch 41 of each ofthe L-shaped members lies slightly Iabove the plane of the brace 15 withits forward end underlying the lower ladder step 26 and connected to oneof the lateral stretches of the step flange 26' by one of the bolts 32.`Desir-ably, the lower face of the step 26 rests on, and is supportedon, the upwardly presented `faces of the horizontally disposed stretches41 of 'the pairof L-shaped members.

'The ladder is pivotally connected to the stool by a pair of generallyU-shaped links 42 and 44. As shown in FIG. 5, the link 42 has its bight45 pivotally received in the vertical stretches `40 of t-he pair of L-shaped members above the plane of the brace 15, with its outturned end-s46 pivotally received in aligned openings in the inner faces of the'lateral stretches of the brace 15 forwardly of the transverse axis ofsaid brace. The link 44 has its bight 4'8 pivotally received in a pairof brackets 50 mounted on the forwardly disopsed stretch of Athe brace15 between the ladder legs 30. As shown in FIG. 6, the link 44 is curvedupwardly and rearwardly from its bight 48, and is provided withoutturned ends 52 pivotal-ly received in aligned openings formed in theinner faces of the horizontal stretches 41 u of the pair of L-shapedmembers underlying the lower step.

From the above description, it will be apparent that the links 42 and414 connect the ladder to the brace 1S in such a way that the ladder canbe moved between the full line and dotted l-ine posit-ions shown inFIG. 1. When the ladder is in its retracted position shown in full linesin FlG. 1, it is supported by the legs 30 and the lower step flange 26resting on the forwardly disposed stretch of the brace 15. In extendedposi-tion, shown in dotted lines in FIG. l, the ladder is supported bythe legs 30 and the horizontal stretches 411 of the L-shaped membersresting on the forwardly disposed stretch of the brace 1S. During themovement of the ladder between its retracted and extended position, thelinks 42 and 44 will of course pivot `about their connections to saidladder and the stool brace 15. During such pivotal movement, the ladderis prevented from pivoting substantially rearwardly past the full lineposition shown in FIG. 1 into a cocked position by the inwardly pinchedportions 13 of the rear legs 12. With the lateral extent of the stepbeing greater than the lateral spacing between the rear legs 12 at theirinwardly pinched portions 13, any rearward tilting of the ladder islimited by said upper step striking the pinched portions 13 of said rearlegs.

The lower ends of the several pairs of legs 10, 12, and are desirablyprovided iwith caps 54 which facilitate movement of a stool over a floorand provide adequa-te load-transmitting surface between the stool andiloor.

I claim as my invention:

1. A step stool, comprising pairs of `front and rear legs rigidlyconnected Aat their upper ends, a brace rigidly interconnecting saidlegs toward their lower ends, a back rest mounted on the rear legs, aseat mounted on the upper ends of the front and rear legs, a ladderhaving an upper step and a lower step offset forwardly therefrom, saidpair of steps being interconnected by pairs `of generally L-shapedmembers and ground-engageable legs, and a pair of generally U-shapedlinks pivotally interconnecting said L-shaped members to said brace forpivotal movement of said ladder from a retracted position generallyunderlying the stool seat to an extended operative position in which itis disposed forwardly of said seat, said' pair of links being connectedto said brace in a common horizontal plane with one of said pairs oflinks being pivotally connected to said brace between the front stoollegs and the other of said pair of links being pivotally joined to saidbrace between the front and rear stool legs, the pivot connectionbetween said ladder and said one of said pair of links lying forwardlyof Said fro-nt legs when said ladder is extended and rearwardly of saidfront legs when said-ladder is retracted.

2. A step stool as set forth in claim 1 in which said one of said pairof links i-'s pivotal-1y connected to said L-shaped members in the planeof the lower step and said other of said pair of links'is pivotallyconnected to said L-shaped members between the upper and lower laddersteps.

3. A step stool as set forth in claim 1 in which said one of said pairof U-shaped links has its intermediate stretch rotatably carried in apair of brackets mounted on said brace between the pair of front legs,and the ends of said link project outwardly parallel to saidintermediate stretch and are pivotally received in said L- shapedmembers under the lower step, said brackets being disposed adjacent theends of said intermediate Stretch.

4. A step stool yas set forth in claim 1 with the addition that saidsteps have downwardly projecting peripheral flanges, and said L-shapedmembers underlie said lower step and are connected to the lateralstretches of its peripheral llange, said lower step being disposed overa pair of brackets mounted on said brace and pivotally mounting said oneof said pair of links to the brace.

5. A step stool as set forth in claim 1 in which said pair ofground-engageable ladder legs and said L-shaped members are connectedIto the lateral stretches of the lower step by common fastening means.

6. A step stool, comprising pairs of front and rear legs, brace meansinterconnecting said legs and having at least a front stretchinterconnecting said front legs and a pair of lateral stretchesinterconnecting said rear legs with said front legs, a seat mounted onthe upper ends of said front and rear legs, a ladder having an -upperstep and 'a lower step offset forw-ardly therefrom, a pair of L-shapedmembers rigidly interconnecting said steps, a pair of `ground-engageablelegs interconnected said steps adjacent their front edges, and a pair ofgenerally U-shaped links pivotally interconnecting said L- shapedmembers to said brace means for pivotal movement of said ladder from aretracted position generally underlying the stool seat Ito an extendedoperative position in which it is disposed forwardly of said seat, saidpair of links lbeing connected to said brace means in a commonhorizontal plane with one of said pairs of links being connected to saidfront brace stretch and the other of said pair Iof links being pivotallyjoined to said lateral brace stretches, the pivot connection betweensaid l-adder and said one of said pair of links lying forwardly of saidfront legs when said ladder is extended and rearwardly of said frontlegs when said ladder is retracted.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

